Tourist hopes from meeting

Tourist hopes from meeting

9 October 2013

KILLOUGH may be the last place you would expect to find a visiting official from the Centre for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution.

But that was the case recently when Aziz Abu Sarah popped into the Ann Boal Inn to meet landlord, Malachi Curran, one of the signatories to the Good Friday Agreement.

The special visitor, who is based at the George Mason University in Virginia, chose the quaint village pub to meet with Mr. Curran to discuss the story of the troubles as he prepares to expand his innovative tour business into Northern Ireland. It’s a move which could lead to the creation of local jobs and provide boost for the economy.

Aziz, who is also a National Geographic explorer, currently runs tours in Israel and Palestine focusing on the peace process and issues of conflict there. He believes something similar in Northern Ireland would be successful with Down District included in the visitors’ itinerary.

As part of his preparation to deliver his visitor programme, Aziz met up with Mr. Curran, explaining he wants to develop a tour offering visitors an experience which is not currently available to them.

Four years ago, Aziz founded the Middle East Justice and Development Initiative to use as a bridge between conflict resolution and business. He is also a recognised Middle East expert.

Aziz said he was in Killough to “learn,” explaining he chose to speak with Mr. Curran — who was a member of the Northern Ireland Labour Party when he signed the Good Friday Agreement — as he was not attached to mainstream political parties.

“I chose to meet with Mr. Curran as I did not want to hear the party line from others. My goal is to learn and understand what happened in Northern Ireland so I can build a business to bring people to this part of the world,” he explained.

“The only way to do that is to get the real story. I want to make people’s journey to Northern Ireland interesting.”

Aziz explained his goal is to develop a tourist product that does not exist currently, putting local people at the heart of the visitor experience.

He continued: “I don’t want to be just another tour company and am not in this for profit. The company I am involved with is a social enterprise. We will employ local people to be the tour guides and would like visitors to stay with local families and talk with them as this helps make the visit a more richer experience. Local people know far more than tour guides.”

Aziz admits while visitors are encouraged to stay with families, he accepts this is not for everyone. He also explained that before anyone would stay with a family, they would be visited by representatives from his tour firm so they are fully aware of their responsibilities.

“We would meet with families interested in hosting visitors to explain what they do and don’t do and things they might want to avoid getting into,” he continued.

“We started organising visits to families in Bethlehem in Palestine and were the first company to get involved in such an initiative. Now there are 10 other companies involved in the same work.”

Aziz said people who host visitors are paid, with many visitors creating lasting friendships, with these people making a number of return visits.

He continued: “When visitors meet with local people they get a richer narrative of what really happened during the troubles and first hand experience of what happened in their particular areas.

“Local people can provide detail and insights which visitors will never hear from a traditional tour guide. What we want to ensure is that visitors get the real on the ground story,” he said.

Aziz added: “Local people tell the story better. There’s nothing to beat the richness of the experience of staying and talking with people as you learn so much more.”

Mr. Curran said people across Down District and in wider Northern Ireland are much more integrated than many believe and he is excited at the visitor initiative Aziz is interested in developing.

He added: “I can see the potential in this and am very excited by it. It could do a tremendous good for our district, its people and the economy. While it is early days, this initiative could do so much for our part of the world, a place whose story has never been explained on a global scale. What Aziz is planning will change all that.”